


thunderstorms and dudes bein bros

by anna_e



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 07:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15990914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anna_e/pseuds/anna_e
Summary: finch was sure of many things and decisions in his life. he was sure of the choice he made when he decided to take everything and leave home. he was sure when he started going by finch and not patrick. he was sure when he moved to manhattan. he was sure when he became a newsie. he was confident in the choices he made and rarely looked back in regret.there were very few things he was positive about.he was positive that he wanted a home but never wanted to stay in one place forever. he was positive that he was a master with a slingshot. he was positive about albert dasilva.





	thunderstorms and dudes bein bros

**Author's Note:**

> i know the title is bad. just go with it okay it's funny

finch was sure of many things and decisions in his life. he was sure of the choice he made when he decided to take everything and leave home. he was sure when he started going by finch and not patrick. he was sure when he moved to manhattan. he was sure when he became a newsie. he was confident in the choices he made and rarely looked back in regret.

 

there were very few things he was positive about. 

 

he was positive that he wanted a home but never wanted to stay in one place forever. he was positive that he was a master with a slingshot. he was positive about albert dasilva. 

 

albert dasilva. the guy who smiled like the sun, but you had to work hard to see it. the guy whose hands were covered in calluses and could throw a hard punch, but his touches were always gentle towards those he cared for. he was really something else. finch could spend hours just watching him. and he did, he saw it all. the way his flaming hair curled behind his ear and at the nape of his neck whenever he took off his hat. how his hands twitched a little and he tapped his thumb against his thigh whenever he was overwhelmed by things. how he acted like he didn’t care or notice when the younger newsies followed him around the lodge and demanded he entertain them in some way or another. but he’d put their blankets back on them and would smooth the hair away from their foreheads as they slept, every night before he went home. 

 

finch wasn’t a stalker or anything. he was just observant. and he spent more time observing people he found intriguing. that’s what he told himself. he was only intrigued by albert, nothing more and nothing less. 

 

but then albert would flash him that rare wide smile and  _ holy shit _ who was he kidding, he was fucked. 

 

~~~

 

after a long day of selling, the last thing finch expected to see was albert standing at the front table by kloppman and signing in to stay the night at the lodging house.

 

“what are you doing?” finch asked as he got in line behind albert. 

 

albert turned and raised an eyebrow, setting the pencil down. “signing in? my brothers are sick, my dad don’t want me catchin’ it so m’here for the night.” he stretched a bit and leaned against the table, watching as finch signed himself in. 

 

“you gotta bed?”

 

“didn’t think that far ahead pal. probably jus’ gonna get some shut eye in the corner or somethin’.”

 

“why don’t you just share?”

 

“an’ steal half’a someone's bed for the night? no way.”

 

finch sighed and rolled his eyes, of course albert was gonna be a stupid self sacrificing stubborn idiot about this. he grabbed alberts arm and tugged him in the direction of his bunk. “c’mon.”

 

“what’re you doin’?”

 

“i know for a fact that you sleep all curled up in’a ball. you ain’t gonna take up much space, you’se sharin’ with me tonight.” whatever argument albert was coming up with was stopped with a quick “don’t argue me on this” from finch that caused his mouth to snap shut with a soft huff. 

 

they sat down side by side and both quickly untied their shoes and tucked them under the bed before pulling off their hats and setting them down beside the shoes. finch had to fight back his smile when he saw alberts red hair, curly and messy, but also beautiful. 

 

“night al.” finch spoke up once they were both laying down, a respectable distance between them.

 

the sleepy “g’night fi.” he got in response nearly made his heart burst just because of how adorable and soft it was. he really worked hard to force back the ‘aw’ sound he wanted to make when albert quietly yawned before curling himself into a ball and tucking himself closer to the wall the bed was pushed against. 

 

~~~

 

finch woke up what was probably a couple hours later and laid still for a few moments to try and figure out what had woken him. a loud boom of thunder sounded and seemed to rattle the entire house, that could have been it. after a few more seconds he realized that no, it wasn’t the thunder or lightning that woke him up.

 

albert was shaking. 

 

“al?” finch pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked over at albert. the redhead was still curled tightly into a ball, his hands covering his face and his body pressed as far into the corner as he could get. “albert?” finch tried again, once again getting no response. he hesitantly rested a hand on the other boys arm, jumping back a bit when albert flinched and curled up tighter. “albert buddy can i touch you?” he didn’t really expect a reply, so he did feel a little relieved when he saw the small little nod of alberts head. finch rested a hand on the back of alberts neck and he could feel as some of the tension faded away, before another crack of thunder sounded and albert tensed up all over again. “is there anything i can do?” it was killing him to see albert like this and he was willing to do pretty much anything to make the other boy feel more comfortable. 

  
  


“can you jus’-” he paused and took a deep breath “just hold me.” he tensed even more after those words left his mouth, like he was waiting for an outright refusal or some sort of angry reaction from finch, instead finch reached forward and gently pulled him into his arms. there was a flash of lightning outside the window across from them and albert quickly turned around, burying his face against finch's chest. finch was a little shocked but also definitely not opposed to the new position. laying like this meant he could keep an arm around albert’s waist and also run his free hand slowly through those red curls. 

 

“i’m sorry i-” albert began, only to get cut off by a soft ‘shh’ from finch as he continued to run his fingers through his hair.

 

“it’s alright, i’ve got you doll.” finch immediately began to internally scream at himself for saying that. 

 

_ ‘great buddy, now he knows that you like him and hes gonna hate you forever because you don’t know when to shut the hell up.’ _ but instead of the push he was expecting though, albert cuddled closer and let out a little happy hum. ‘ _ hey okay what the hell. _ ’

 

the two were quiet for a few more moments until another loud crack of thunder rattled the whole room. albert’s breath hitched and he gripped tightly onto finch's shirt, moving even closer if that was possible. 

 

“it’s okay. shh it’s okay i’ve got you. ain’t nothin’ gonna happen to you with me here. it’s gonna be alright,” finch promised, his arm around albert pulling him closer and holding him almost flush against his chest. 

 

they stayed like that for the rest of the storm, finch holding albert as close as he could while whispering soft reassurances to the other boy whenever the thunder shook the building or the lightning lit up the room. he could feel albert relax under his touch as the minutes passed and he felt pretty accomplished when the tight grip the redhead had on his shirt had decreased to nothing but a hand flat against his chest. 

 

“how’re you feelin’ doll?” calling albert doll a second time was definitely a risk, but part of finch just couldn’t stop himself from using the pet name on him. 

 

“m’okay. storms jus’ scare me i guess. i’m sorry that i woke you an’ made you.. y'know.” he gestured vaguely to where finch still had his arms wrapped tightly around him. 

 

“you want me to let you go?” finch asked softly. he didn’t want to let albert go, but if albert even slightly showed signs of discomfort, he would in an instant. 

 

albert shook his head and gripped onto finch’s shirt again, letting out a content sigh when finch pulled him closer and rested his chin on top of his head. 

 

“you wanna talk about it or anything?” 

 

“i just don’t like ‘em.” was the point blank answer. well, that was probably to be expected, albert was a pretty straight forward person with most things.

 

“storms right?”

 

“yeah.”

 

the two laid in silence again, the only sounds being the other boys around them in the room and the occasional yawn from albert. 

 

yesterday, if somebody had told finch that he would wind up holding albert dasilva like this and calming him down during a thunderstorm, he probably would have rolled his eyes and laughed in their face. sure he definitely had a thing for albert, but he was also pretty good at just- acting like he never cared about anything ever really. he was well known among the other boys for being able to keep his cool with practically everything. so most likely nobody knew how much finch just kinda wanted to grab alberts face and kiss him all the time. 

 

“i’m sorry,” albert spoke up again, his voice soft.

 

“you don’t gotta apologize.”

 

“but i woke you up. you gotta try an’ work tomorrow but now s’gonna be hard cause’a how tired you are.”

 

“nah.” he started to run his fingers through alberts hair again and smiled when the other boy relaxed against him. “it’ll be fine, ain’t that big of a deal. you don’t gotta apologize for how you react ta’ things.”

 

they fell into another silence, just listening to the sounds of the rain water dripping off the roof and their steady breathing. finch slowly ran his thumb in circles on the side of alberts waist, the simple motion relaxing him and helping him focus on what was currently happening. 

 

he really didn’t want to forget any of what was happening right now. 

 

he focused on the feeling of alberts hair under his hand, the sound of his steady breathing, the way his hand was resting directly over finch’s heart. it was all just little things that made finch’s heart ache in the best way possible. 

 

~~~

 

finch was pretty sure that albert had fallen asleep maybe an hour ago. his breathing had evened out and he’d just kind of curled into finch’s side as the exhaustion and stress pushed him towards sleep. even then finch hadn’t let go of him, he kept one arm wrapped around his waist and the other propping his own head up. sleep was clearly something that wasn’t going to happen for finch tonight. he wasn’t too bothered by that though, he’d much rather spend his time trying to memorize every single thing about this moment. 

 

as the sun began to rise and the other boys started to stir from their sleep, finch moved his arm away from albert’s waist and gently brushed some of the hair away from his freckled face, smiling softly when the rising sun made his red hair have a more golden tint to it. if he had the time and was able to, finch would have happily just watched and admired albert for hours. that boy was like a damn painting or something. 

 

sadly though, the moment was ruined when a loud thump and a groan came from the floor beside them, causing albert to startle awake. 

 

he looked around for a moment before his eyes settled on finch and he smiled softly. “g’morning.” he pulled back and stretched, running a hand through his hair before rolling slightly back so he was leaning against finch again. they stayed like that for another second before the sound in the room grew and more boys started getting up and getting ready for their days. 

 

albert sat up and moved over finch to sit on the edge of the bed and pull on his shoes. as finch sat up to do the same, he was a little shocked to feel albert rest his head on his shoulder. without thinking, he turned and pressed a quick kiss to the side of alberts head before standing and grabbing his hat. albert froze before a small light pink blush covered his cheeks and he stood as well. 

 

the walk to the world’s distribution counter was silent for the two, but not in an uncomfortable way, just a tired but normal walk. finch’s face held his usual blank expression as he walked, but his brain kept helpfully reminding him of little things about last night. like the way albert had looked up at him before cuddling closer, or the way he hadn’t pulled away when he woke up. 

 

once they got their papers, finch looked over at albert again. “have a good day. see you tonight?”

 

albert smiled that rare bright smile and nodded. “see you tonight. you have a good day too.” he waved before tucking his papers into his bag and heading in the direction of his usual selling spot. finch watched for a moment as he walked, the smallest of smiles pulling at his lips. 

 

there were very few things finch was positive about.

 

but he was positive about albert. 


End file.
